a mom and dad pass on thier faith

Today (Genesis 23-24, Matthew 8)

So Abraham left his family, security, and inheritance because of God's promise.
He wandered through hostile territory without body armor,
without drones,
without night vision,  or an army.

The God of the Angel Armies was with Him.

He had his son (finally) so that the promise God made to make him into a great nation would be fulfilled then God asks him to sacrifice him.  But God does what only God can do and all ends well.

Then years pass and  the little boy of the promise grows up. This kid was going to father a great nation, a multitude of people that could not be counted!
From him would come a King whose line would always sit upon the throne!
Nations would bow out and yield their lands to his sword!

And before she can see any of it, his mother dies. Away from her family, her land, her tribe. Abraham is left with nothing but God.

But as my kids bible reminds us: God + Nothing = Everything

Yet this man's heart was heavy. His wife was gone, the one who dreamed dreams with him.

Now I am sure that Abraham and Sara shared the stories of the promise with their son over and over. Every kid asks why.
Why are we here?
Why is our clan so far away?
Why do we act so differently?
Why are you so old?
Why can't I marry that cute girl from town?

The old lie could have easily poisoned his heart now
..."did God really say?". Yes, God really said.

God proved is steadfast love. Time and time and time again.
God comforted Abraham in his old age with a tomb for his wife and a wife for his son.
He could close his eyes in peace.

Many, many, many years later a man named Simeon would get the same comfort in his heart.
This man held the child of the promise.
This child would be sacrificed.
He was the Lamb of God.
He held in his hands the steadfast love of God, Jesus.

He is King of realms we cannot see;
He commands the elemental forces of nature of wind and water.
He commands dark forces of demons.
He commands all matters of sickness.
He commands over death.

I pass this onto you.
The steadfast love of God endures for ever.
His promise is his promise. I know that for a fact

God cares less about what the Bible says...

God cares less about what the Bible says, he cares more about what it does..to the reader.  It is not self-help book, it is a book about how God helped us.

True, it does contain expectations, desires, and commands. It also has history, poetry, stories, and truth, always truth.

You see God's desire  is NOT simply conforming, 

but rather transforming.

We can "do" without "becoming". We can love without being loving, we can give without being gracious, we can withhold violence without being forgiving. Jesus called these folks out:

 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! 

You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, 

but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. 

People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.

                 Matthew 23:27

The only way to allow the Bible to transform you is to read it. Most folks read parts of it, glossing over the pieces they don't care for either because it is difficult to understand (which some is) or it reveals to them what they really are.

But some may say "I don't want to be like Westboro Baptist Church!" Me either. I want to be like Jesus. He hung out with lawyers, prostitutes, demon possessed, men, women, sick, and healthy. He was killed and forgave the man who nailed him to the cross. He saw off in the distance clearly His father's plan of redemption and turned the world upside down. That is what I want to be like.

What about you?
Join me for 365 days. I'll post a reading plan that takes about 5 minutes of your day. Let it sink in you and challenge you, comfort you, cause you to make amends, and make you leap for joy. When there are some hard parts I'll unpack it a bit and always I'll bring it to bear on the here-and-now.

We were all made for glory. We were all made to be beautiful. We were all made to be whole.

I know what I’m doing. 

I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, 

plans to give you the future you hope for.

 

“When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, 

I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you. 

I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

                               Jeremiah 29:11-14

the readings for today 

God is better that octomom

One of them said, “I’m coming back about this time next year. 

When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son.” 

Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.

Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. 

Sarah was far past the age for having babies. 

Sarah laughed within herself, 

“An old woman like me? 

Get pregnant? 

With this old man of a husband?”

God said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh saying, ‘Me? Have a baby? 

An old woman like me?

’ Is anything too hard for God?

 I’ll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby.”

Sarah lied. She said, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was afraid.

But he said, “Yes you did; you laughed.”

                Genesis 9:16-18 (The Message)

This passage may be pretty familiar with some. "Is anything too hard for GOD" is comforting. We chant it like a talisman when times get tough. It's like a good luck charm when our team is loosing, or we can't find a parking space up close at the mall. 

To be fair, for many it is an anchor when hell hits full force; a phone call from a policeman, news of another school shooting, one more time a spouse is hit. Yes, God is sovereign at all times.  

But that should grab us here misses most of us due to modern translations. It may read something like this: 

Now she had no more eggs left in her. 

She was post-menopausal and she knew it!

Her monthly cycle had stopped so long ago

she had forgotten all about it. 

Add to the mix:

1) God had promised that she would have a son long ago

2) God had promised her husband they would have many, many, many children

3) Not having a son then was a huge social disgrace

So you see she was waiting, waiting, waiting for many, many, many years after God's first promises. Around seventy years to be exact. 

So she was living like a follower but not really trusting on the inside. Now remember, she was waiting. 

And God did what he promised in a way only he could do. 

He literally placed life in her where there was no life.

It is of little wonder she laughed. 

Yeah right! A baby now! 

I've been waiting for the "check in the mail" for over 70 years!

I get laughed at! My husband said you promised

So I waited, and waited and waited

And now you say a baby?!

I DON"T HAVE ANY EGGS!

How is that gonna happen?!

Answer:

I am God. 

And so the child was named Issac, "Son of Laughter"....because God always has the last say. 

And what he says, he does. 

Later he would tell another woman that she would have a baby too. It was was impossible as the first time. She was a virgin. 

She didn't laugh though, she trusted and said "so be it".

Where are you today? How are you talking to God? 

Disbelief, or trust? 

Life from death, joy from ashes, light from dark...

he alone can do it...and he delights in doing so